Revamped South Side has potential

Graduation was tough on South Side’s boys’ lacrosse program, which had to replace 17 players from last year’s team that reached the Nassau Class B playoffs, but coach Steve DiPietro is excited about the outlook for 2014.

“I really like the chemistry and the coaching staff,” said DiPietro, who has former player Stephen Serling, Chris Passuello, Mike Skudin, Dan Ferrick, and Greg Northrop as assistants. “We’re pretty young and have a large class of juniors, but we’ll compete,” he added. “If we stay healthy, we can be really good.”

DiPietro said he was encouraged by South Side’s performance in an 8-7 overtime defeat at Syosset, a perennial Class A contender, in the season opener on March 18. The Braves won it on Macaire O’Keefe’s fourth goal of the game with 3:02 gone in the extra period. The Cyclones got two goals apiece from senior Kieran O’Hagan and freshman Mike Leake, and a goal and two assists from junior Dylan Crossan.

“We would’ve liked the overtime goal to go our way, but aside from that it was a very promising opener against a strong team,” DiPietro said. “There are many positives things we can take from it.”

South Side, seeded fifth in Nassau Conference B-I, has new faces all over the field. Making the reloading process a little more difficult are the new rules regarding personnel changes, which must be done on the fly much like hockey. “They’re trying to speed things up like the college game,” DiPietro said. “There’s more of an emphasis on the box area, which increased to 20 yards from 10.” 

Crossan, the offensive quarterback who does most of his work behind the cage, is the lone returning starter for the Cyclones up front. “He’s got great vision and stick skills,” DiPietro said. “He makes the offense go.” Senior Brian Hurwitz, who notched a big overtime goal against Lynbrook last spring, was an obvious candidate to move from midfield to attack, DiPietro said. “Brian moves well and his experience fits right in with what we’re trying to accomplish up front,” he said. Leake, who found the net twice in his first varsity game, is the other starting attack. “He has some wiggle in his game,” DiPietro said. “He’s a good finisher and crafty off the ball.”

The area most impacted by the rule change to speed up the game is the midfield. South Side boasts five solid returnees at the position, DiPietro said, in O’Hagan, fellow seniors Alex Pickett and Jack Lucas, and juniors Zach Scaduto and Thomas Moore. Pickett and Moore scored at Syosset. Scaduto and Lucas, who thrive at stifling opponents, are being asked to contribute more offensively. Freshman Joe LiCalzi starts at long pole middle.

The in-close defense is led by junior Stephen Parker, a three-year starter with all the tools. Junior Steven DiMare and senior Matt Pandolfi also return. Junior Dennis LiCalzi has emerged as the starting goaltender and made some point-blank stops in the opener. Next on the depth chart is junior Kyle McWalters.